


Family

by Aspidities



Series: Korrasami Week 2017 [7]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Absolute fluff, F/F, Fluff, Spirit World, for sure there will be tears, proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-05 05:28:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12183792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aspidities/pseuds/Aspidities
Summary: Day 7; Family for Korrasami Week 2017Korra takes Asami to the Spirit World on a very special day.





	Family

**Author's Note:**

> We've finally come to the end of Korrasami Week! I mean, I'm actually a day late so this is technically not even the week anymore, but who cares. Thanks to everyone who enjoyed this series and kept me going with comments. You guys are the reason we writers do this. <3

“Got everything?” Korra questioned, trying to keep the nerves out of her voice so Asami wouldn’t suspect anything was awry. She fingered a small object in her pocket, attempting to look nonchalant.

“Yep,” Asami confirmed, shouldering her pack. “But is there a particular reason why we have to go to the Spirit World _today_? You know it’s sweet of you to want to take me on another trip, but there’s a lot of work I have to do here-“

“I know,” The Avatar interrupted, “and I promise, you’ll be back tomorrow in time to finish up. It’s just…today is a special day in the Spirit World, and it only comes along once in a long time, so I wanted you to experience it.” She grinned shyly, still feeling awkward when it came to their love, which was always so new, even after a year and some months of being together.

As usual, her tenderness melted the stern expression on her CEO’s face, and she titled her pretty head to one side, green eyes warming to a soft emerald color. “You’re so sweet. I guess I can let Zhao Ping take over for today….”

That was as good as a yes, in engineer-speak. Korra grabbed Asami’s hand and half-dragged, half-led her to Naga, giving her a boost, and then hopping on board herself, tying their packs down behind them on the large saddle. She gave her polar bear-dog the command to go, hoping to be halfway to the Spirit Portal before Asami could rethink her decision, and that turned out to be the case. She’d had to quell several panicked murmurs about deadlines and audit schedules with a series of soothing assertions about Zhao Ping’s general worthiness as an assistant in times of crisis before Asami would settle back and allow her arms to fall around Korra’s waist, but finally, as they entered the spirit vine crater, she did so, sighing into Korra’s shoulder-blade and pulling herself tighter. Korra kept a hand on Asami’s hand on her waist, and one on the reigns as she guided Naga into the portal, the great white beast panting with impatience to be allowed to run freely in the Spirit World.

Korra didn’t blame her companion; she essentially felt the same way. Whenever they went into the portal, she could stop fixing things, stop saving things, and just be…whole and complete there with Asami, a laughing vision with her hair down, her eyes happy. They could make love on the petals of massive flowers, beneath whirling aeons of stars above, or climb trees like children, chasing each other until they were out of breath. It was a place of infinite possibilities for their love to grow, and the prospect excited her, but today was going to be different, she knew that. Today was not about lovemaking, but rather, a more intense, sober purpose was her intended goal. Her hand tightened on Asami’s as they stepped into the meadow, and she lifted the reigns to guide Naga on, into the forest, where she knew what awaited them.

“Korra, where are we going?” Asami questioned from behind her on the saddle, leaning around to look at the trees, which were glowing with a faint, blue-gold light. “And what’s up with the forest? I’ve never seen it look like this before….is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine,” she assured the worried brow of her girlfriend. “I’m taking us to a clearing, and in it there’s…well there’s this pool called the Mirror of the Beyond. It’s…today is a special day, like I said.” She took a deep breath before continuing, praying to all the Spirits that she had made the right decision to take Asami here. “It’s a day when the spirits of the dead can come into the Mirror of the Beyond, and they can see and speak to the living.” She paused, and the last words tumbled out in a nervous rush. “Especially if one of the living is their relative. Daughter, in this case.”

Asami stiffened behind her. She couldn’t see her lover’s face, and felt as agonized as Orpheus guiding Eurydice from the Underworld as she gripped the reigns, leading Naga onto the path that led to the clearing. Just when the silence had stretched long enough to make her heart sink with the assumption that this had been a poor idea on her part, she heard a hesitant, soft question from behind her.

“Are you saying I could see my dad?”

Relief suffused her and Korra nodded, feeling Asami’s eyes on the back of her head. “Or…um…your mom. Or both. Whoever you want to talk to.” She stroked Asami’s long fingers with her own calloused pads, trying to convey support.

“My mom.” Asami’s voice had a wondering, awestruck note to it. “Spirits I…I…haven’t seen her since I was six.” She took a breath and Korra realized, helplessly, that she must be crying, almost silently. Asami’s face burrowed into the muscled plane of her shoulder and she felt the hot dampness seeping into her shirt. Everything in her ached to turn around and press kisses all over that tear-stung face that she loved so well…but Asami was a fiercely independent mourner, and she often jerked away from excessive gestures, preferring her own solitude when she felt low. Just the hot wet weight of her face against Korra’s back meant that she was taking comfort, in her own way, and that would have to be enough, for now. On instinct, her fingers swept over the bunch sitting on her leg; the object in her pocket was still safely inside.

They’d reached the clearing. She hopped off of Naga, giving Asami time to wipe her eyes before offering her a hand down, but as the engineer slid down the bear-dog’s side, she couldn’t help but pull her into a lingering kiss, gently raising her lips to brush against the drops on Asami’s pale cheek. “We don’t have to do this.” She offered, barely raising her voice above a whisper. “If it’s too much, I mean.”

“I don’t know.” Asami quivered in her arms, and she sounded so unlike herself, almost childlike, that Korra tightened protectively around her. “Will they know who I am? Will they be….” She trailed off, seemingly not knowing what to ask.

“They’ll know who you are.” Korra buried her face in Asami’s hair, burning to tell her all the ways in which she loved her, but knowing now was hardly the time. “They have memories.”

For a time, they just stood, together, at the lip of the Mirror pool, clinging tightly. Asami didn’t seem to want to move, or look at the clearing, or do anything other than grasp Korra to her like a tornado was trying to tear them apart. Eventually, though, her body relaxed, somewhat loosening, and she stepped free of her lover’s embrace, looking around the clearing. The trees were all lit in that somber blue-gold glow, and the water of the Mirror was more silver than blue, almost a pool of mercury. “It’s beautiful,” she commented, slowly revolving to take it all in.

 _You’re the only beautiful thing I’ll ever want to see_. Korra’s mouth was dry, and she shuddered with sudden nerves, but she didn’t say anything, instead fingering the object in her pocket once more. She took Asami’s hand and led her to the pool’s edge, and together, they knelt at its side, looking deep into the silvery water. Korra took a deep breath, and summoned Raava within herself, feeling the light inside of her radiate out through her skin. In a moment, the silver surface of the pool rippled, and then began to pulse, softly, as a ball of golden light appeared at the bottom and began to swell, rising to the surface. The golden form broke the water and rose further, becoming a pair of vaguely-human shapes, which then resolved into a man and a woman, arms linked, smiling out from the center of the pool.

One face she recognized. Hiroshi’s eyes held a warmth that hadn’t been there before his death, and the hard line of his aristocratic jaw was softer, gentler somehow. He clutched the arm of his wife, Yasuko, whom Korra only knew from photos, but she took in a breath at how much Asami’s mother looked just like her. Her hair was lighter, and her eyes shone brown instead of green, but she was an older version of her daughter.

“Dad?” Asami’s voice broke and she took a step forward, one hand curled to her chest, the other reaching out. “Mom?”

“Asami.” Hiroshi’s voice echoed out over the water and he smiled, sadly. “My little fireflower.”

“Dad….” Asami was weeping, but she was smiling through her tears. “I miss you so much.” She turned and saw her mother, as if for the first time. “Mom?” She whispered, and all at once she was no longer an adult woman, but a little girl again, calling for her mother. “ _Mommy_?”

Yasuko’s golden form swept across the water, and just as Asami dropped to her knees, crying brokenly, the light enveloped her like an embrace. When Korra’s eyes adjusted to the brightness, she could see Hiroshi standing over her kneeling form, smiling down at her, and Asami in the lap of her mother, sobbing as the spirit of Yasuko rocked her, stroking her face lovingly. Hiroshi knelt beside them, and was drawn into the embrace as Asami keened, moving from one parent to the other. It was hard to watch, seeing her lover empty herself of emotion like this, but Korra kept firm. She couldn’t imagine what Asami was feeling in this moment, but it was her duty, as someone who loved her deeply and endlessly, to stand by and do what she needed until she wasn’t needed anymore.

Hiroshi stroked his daughter’s hair, soothing her, as Yasuko held her face. “My little girl,” the voice of the older Sato woman whispered, sounding like a river from far away. “My beautiful little girl. How you’ve grown. You’ve become such a woman. Such a fierce, wonderful woman.”

Korra silently couldn’t agree more, but she said nothing as Yasuko turned to Hiroshi, and he stepped forward, pulling Asami to his chest. “I am so sorry for how I had to leave you,” he told her, his voice crackling like the wind through the pines. “I hope you will forgive me; I had to make sure you lived. And I knew your mother was waiting here for me.” He smiled into his wife’s loving gaze over their child’s head. “And she was. So everything is all right, tigerwolf. Everything is as it should be.”

“ _Dad_ …” But Asami couldn’t voice her thoughts, clearly. She sobbed, again, and again, drawing herself into a ball between them, rocking like a baby.

When at last Asami could speak again, she looked up at Korra, seeing her standing awkwardly to one side of the family embrace, and beckoned to her, drawing herself and her parents to her feet as she joined hands with both her lover and her mother, looking to her as she spoke. “Korra…I don’t know how to thank you for this…I…”

But Korra knew what to say. She took a deep breath. Hiroshi was still looking at her, as she withdrew the engagement necklace from her pocket and held it out. Asami gasped, and she felt her almost stumble, but Korra squeezed her fingers, refusing to look at her, knowing she would lose her resolve to do what she came here to do. Instead, she looked into the deep, knowing gaze of her lover’s father, and her one-time enemy. His eyes were sad, and they were solemn, but there was an understanding there.

“Honorable Hiroshi.” She removed her hand from Asami’s to put her fist to her palm, bowing as deeply as she could manage before him, and then turning to do the same to his wife. “Lady Yasuko. I brought your spirits here today to talk with your daughter, to feel the joy in her that I am gifted with every day, and to ask a favor of you both.”

She swallowed, finally locking eyes with Asami who was open-mouthed, staring at the object in her hand. She raised the engagement necklace up, and offered it to the golden spirits before her, nerves shaking her hand so badly she almost couldn’t speak. It was red, instead of the traditional blue of the Water Tribe, but the carved pendant in the center bore a familiar symbol. “I humbly beg your permission to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage, on this day.”

The spirits said nothing, which fed into her anxiety, only stared back at her, faces still radiating that brilliant golden warmth. She continued, gulping down the knot in her throat, still staring directly at Asami, who gaped back, fresh tears gathering in her eyes. “In a thousand lifetimes, in all of my incarnations, I have found her, and now that I’m finally half-worthy of her, I’m not going to let her go. I promise, on my honor as the Avatar, to protect her, to honor her and support her, and to love her, always.”

“Then you have my blessing.” Hiroshi’s voice sounded almost amused, and his eyes were twinkling. He looked at Asami fondly. “But of course, my _daughter’s_ opinion is what matters most.” Yasuko said nothing, but her eyes were connected to Asami’s and she was smiling gloriously through a rain of tears, wiping her eyes and nodding along with Hiroshi.

Korra blushed. “Yes, of course.” She turned to her lover, who was openly crying once more, but a wide, radiant smile had spread across her face like a sunrise. “Asami, would you-“

“ _Yes_!” She flung herself into Korra’s arms, sobbing and laughing and rocking back and forth, nearly bringing them both back down to their knees. “Yes, yes, yes you silly, stupid, sweet Avatar, you hopeless romantic…oh _Korra_ , Korra of course it’s yes!”

She was peppered with kisses then, and through her blush at Asami’s display of affection in front of her now-future-in-laws, spirits or not, she grinned hopelessly, lovesick and spinning inside. She felt the barest hint of the form of a hand on her shoulder, and Yasuko was looking into her eyes.

“Treasure her.” The form was fading, but she could still feel the golden warmth, wrapping around her and Asami as they held each other. “Treasure her, as we have.”

“ _Always_.” She promised, fervent and more sincere than she had ever been in her life, tightening her hold on her love, as her eyes glowed white and her voice echoed with a thousand ages. 


End file.
